Photo Booth
by Alyssameep
Summary: Eli and Clare decide to ditch their English assignments and make KC jealous at the mall...


**Hi, everyone! This is an Eclare one-shot that I thought up of...For the record, I started writing this before Alli and Drew did their little 'hoe-down throw-down' photo booth pics. Anyhoo, enjoy. ^^ As always, I don't own Degrassi. I can't understand why you would think I would take credit for that, especially on a website dedicated to writing FAN fiction.**

Sometimes Clare just really despised the mall. The hustle and bustle, the big crowds…don't forget seeing numerous Degrassi students there. She was beginning to wonder why she had chosen he mall.

Eli voiced her inner thoughts aloud. "Remind me why you chose the mall as a place to work on our English assignment?"

"Well, Ms. Dawes wanted us to write a poem on something real. The mall's as real as it gets."

"So sure, Saint Clare? Assumptions get you nowhere in life." He put down his notebook and took out a black Sharpie.

She scowled. "Why do you do that, Eli?"

"Hm?"

"Color your nails with a Sharpie? Why don't' you just buy black nail polish?"

He pointed the Sharpie at her, fully uncapped. "One, nail polish is much more expensive than a mere Sharpie. Two, I'm not a girl."

"Good, I'd be really worried if you were."

"Why's that?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows in a knowing way, the Smirk on his face.

Yes, Clare had gotten to the point where she called his signature look 'the Smirk.' Rolling her eyes, she said, "Come on, we need to concentrate."

"I can't concentrate with all this racket, Clare." He leaned back into his chair and stretched. "There's too much 'real life' going on at the moment. Look around and see if you can focus."

She knew he was right; she had also achieved nothing within the past hour. The food court was overflowing, full of weird noises and odd bits of conversation, whereas the rest of the mall was full of stupid teenage girls and compulsive shoppers. There was absolutely no inspiration there, and now Eli probably thought she was either a stupid teenage girl or a compulsive shopper. Or both.

They should just leave while they could. Clare had already seen Fiona and Holly J pass by. She half-considered calling out to them and asking how Declan was, just to see if Eli would react jealously, but she figured it would be a wasted effort. All Eli ever did was send her mixed signals. One minute he was sweet, and the next he was convinced that only he was right, nothing could change that, and he shut himself off from the world…from her. All of this confused Clare to no end. Did he like her or not? Sure, they've had their fair share of moments, but there have been times when he's just coldly brushed her off.

Shaking her head, Clare brought those thoughts out of her head. There was no use obsessing over this kind of stuff when her parents were on the verge of divorce, especially if Eli just wanted to be friends…

A few snaps woke her from her mind. Eli was smirking, as usual. "You awake there, Clare-Bear? Or are the lights on and nobody's home?"

She growled, literally. Darn him. Why must he be so sarcastic and hot at the same time? His skinny jeans hugged his lower body just enough so as not to gross anyone out. His black Dead Hand band t-shirt held no color except for the red lettering. The black button down he wore over it was different, though; Clare had never seen him wear it before…Must be new.

"Are you implying that I'm stupid, Elijah Goldsworthy?"

"Ouch! The full name!" He grabbed his chest as though he were actually wounded. "You hurt me, Clare Edwards."

She stood up, trying not to smile…It didn't work. "Eli Goldsworthy, I am _not_ stupid!"

"No," he said a little quietly and shyly. He looked up at her. "You're very intelligent, Clare."

Her heart thumped. Was he trying to convey something to her?

He looked away from Clare, off at something in the distance. She figured it to be some hot girl. When he spoke, however, she was utterly shocked.

"Why are those two staring at us?"

"Huh?"

Eli pointed. "Straight head across the food court."

Clare followed his finger to see KC and Jenna sitting at a table across the way, gaping at her. "Oh, that's…KC and Jenna," she said lamely, taking her eyes off of them.

"Who?"

"Um…two people in my grade. The blonde girl's on the Power Squad and KC's my…ex."

"Ah," said Eli. "And why are you two exes/"

She furrowed her eyebrows. Huh. He actually sounded interested. "Well, he sort of, kind of cheated on me with her: Jenna. Needless to say we haven't been on the best terms since he tried to cheat off of me on a test." Clare looked down at her lap, where her folded hands sat. Why did she wear jeans and a simple t-shirt? Jenna was decked out in a cute dress and cowboy boots, while Clare decided that today was a 'screw it' day.

Sometimes Clare swore that she was her own worst enemy.

Eli looked thoughtful for a moment and then, with a devious smile, said, "Want to make him jealous?"

Confused, Clare said, "Huh?"

He gestured toward a nearby photo booth. "We go in there, there's no doubt in my mind that they'll follow us to see what pictures we take."

It was Clare's turn to use the Smirk. "You don't seem like the photo booth kind of guy."

"Well, you don't seem to be the photo booth kind of girl."

Smiling, she glanced at KC and Jenna before saying, "Yeah, come on. Time to stir up some shock."

His expression smug, Eli slung his bag over his shoulder, following Clare, who had done the same. She didn't spare KC or Jenna one glance, but instead marched into the photo booth, Eli on her tail. They pushed their bags under the seat and stared at the machine awkwardly.

"'Deposit one dollar,'" Eli read off of the instructions. Clare made to bend down and get money from her bag, but he shook his head. "It's on me." He grabbed his wallet from his back pocket, took out a dollar bill, and slid it into the machine.

The screen lit up. It said that in order to get the best results, people ought to be close together, so they would be in the middle. Clare, who was nowhere near the center, scooted closer towards Eli, her face burning. She dared not to look at him.

Once the machine had deemed them in the right locations, the screen changed and read, "You will have five pictures, so choose five poses!"

"What should our poses be?" asked Eli suggestively.

Clare slugged him on the arm. "We'll take turns making them up. You first."

"Ah, shit, the timer's going off! Quick, do a serious pose!"

Both made their expressions apathetic. The machine clicked as it took their picture. Almost right after that, the timer went off again.

"Funny poses!"shouted Clare.

_Click._

"Sexy poses," said Eli, smirking. Clare let out a gasp, giggling.

_Click._

"Vampire poses!" said Clare, baring her 'fangs.'

Eli rolled his eyes but went along with it.

_Click._

They didn't even remember the poses they had done, but now it all came down to this, the final one. The timer ticked.

Clare looked at Eli, waiting for him to shout out the last pose name. She let out another little gasp as she saw the expression on his face.

He looked tortured, as if he couldn't decide between what was right and wrong. She saw in his eyes that something about Clare, about their situation, was reminding him of something that pained him. She brought a hand up to his cheek, trying to silently console him.

_Click._

It all had only happened in a matter of seconds. The picture slid out of a little slot, while the machine's screen thanked them for trying out the photo booth.

Eli was out in a flash, leaving Clare alone to get the pictures. She retrieved her bag (and Eli's, since he had forgotten) before the exiting the photo booth. "Eli?" she called softly. She saw him sitting down on a nearby bench. Not even giving Jenna and KC, who looked shocked and angry, the time of day, she approached him.

"I'm fine," said Eli before she could ask. "Let's just forget about that. How are the pictures?"

Clare decided to go along with it. She held the pictures in a position where they both could see.

The first picture showed them both looking as though they were getting a mug shot. The next one, the funny one, showed Clare with her tongue out as Eli crossed his eyes and gave her bunny ears. The third picture, the one Eli had dubbed the sexy one, showed Clare's eyes glancing at Eli, who had one finger hooked on the cross necklace that hung around her neck, as she bit her lip. The penultimate photo showed Clare baring her teeth, as Eli leaned in towards her neck, as though to bite it.

The first four pictures had gotten her to laugh, but the final one made her choke up. They both looked so tragic, her with her hand on his check, wanting something the two thought they couldn't have. At least, that was what Eli seemed like.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. Things were changing between them…and for better or worse she did not know.


End file.
